Not Going to Last
by coffee-not-decaf
Summary: According to Arthur, his and Merlin's relationship is probably not going to last. He ends up being very wrong.


"Do you maybe want to go get a drink sometime?"

Arthur was a tad surprised at Merlin's offer. Judging by his shifting eyes and teeth biting down on his lips, it was a nerve-racking experience for him, meaning this was most likely a less than platonic drink that was being asked of him.

It wasn't shocking, per say, but Arthur definitely hadn't been expecting it. He and Merlin had met through friends and had spent the last couple of weeks, their first at university, attempting to survive as the two history majors of the rather large group of people that they both spent time with. They had started getting close, on their way to becoming good friends.

So an offer for a date wasn't entirely out of the realm of possibility, but in Arthur's opinion, it was a shame to wreck a perfectly good friendship when they obviously would not last long as a couple.

Still, Merlin's blue eyes regarded him carefully and he bit his lip once more. He really was quite gorgeous, Arthur knew, and when they inevitably crashed and burned, he could make new friends.

"Sure," he answered, and Merlin's smile lit up. "Why not?"

"He'll be good for you," Gwen said as Arthur helped himself to the cereal in her cupboard, shoveling a hand in as she momentarily glared at him before returning to her former grin. "You'll be good for him, too. The two of you really are compatible."

Arthur rolled his eyes as he spoke through a mouthful of Cheerios. "You've only been down to the pub with us a couple of times. We just went on our first date three weeks ago. How the hell can you tell?"

"I just know," she said, sounding so confident in the truth of her words that Arthur just chuckled instead of biting her head off, like he would if Morgana or Gwaine had made the comment.

"It won't last," he decided to try and search for a bowl so that Gwen could stop giving him the evil eye for contaminating her food with his nasty germs. "We're too different."

"Whatever you say, Arthur," was Gwen's fond, exasperated response. "Whatever you say."

Arthur was sprawled out lackadaisically on Merlin's couch, half paying attention to the episode of Battlestar Galactica on the television, half falling asleep, when Merlin slid in next to him, shoving his feet lightly as he did so. Arthur groaned, but sat up slightly and grinned sleepily over at Merlin.

Merlin waited a second before speaking, something that was slightly concerning, as Merlin never let even a millisecond of silence pass before filling it. Arthur pulled himself up more fully, knowing this would actually require some semblance of his attention.

"My mate from school, Will, is getting married next month," Merlin said. "Be my plus one?"

"Of course," Arthur answered within a few seconds. "Wait, next month?"

"Yeah," Merlin nodded, confirming it. "Still interested?"

Arthur didn't want to hesitate, but he did. A whole month – He and Merlin had been seeing each other about that long already. Could they really go through the entire process again? Merlin was funny, good-looking, clumsily endearing, and they got along like a house on fire, but a whole other month?

"Definitely," he ended up saying. But it wasn't like they couldn't end it early. It was only a month, after all.

They went to the wedding together. And a charity fundraiser. And about a dozen other places other than with just the two of them. Gwen and her new boyfriend Leon had forced them into going on doubles with them on occasion, a torturous process that resulted in Merlin and Arthur poking fun at the sickeningly sweet couple for most of the evenings that they spent in each other's presence.

But Arthur found himself very much enjoying Merlin's presence when it was just the two of them, when Merlin would make a horrid attempt at creating pancakes for breakfast, or yell at the television set as he watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer for the eighth time, or tell Arthur he was the world's greatest prat, good thing he was lovable enough to make up for his dollophead-like qualities, or fell asleep with one arm curled Arthur's side, sinking into him as if they fit together like puzzle pieces.

Not that Arthur would ever say any of that out loud. Merlin already enjoyed teasing him far too much; this new material would keep him going for weeks on end.

Arthur liked to think that maybe Merlin felt the same way about him, whatever that was.

They were compatible. Gwen had been right about that, and she was endlessly smug about having proved Arthur wrong. But Arthur still wasn't sure that she had been right about the whole 'lasting' process. They were still only in their first year of university. Eight months wasn't that long in the grand scheme of things.

Still, one morning when Merlin woke up with a groan, with grumbles about to what extent he hated morning classes, hair messy and flopped across his forehead and eyes still glassy, Arthur smiled and blurted out "I love you."

Merlin's grin was so blinding that Arthur had to squint, and he leaned down to kiss Arthur, deep and breathless, absolutely drowning. He pulled away as he said with a voice full of wonder, "I love you, too."

But that didn't mean they would last. Plenty of people loved one another; plenty of people had their hearts feel like they were being squeezed out every second of the day, plenty of people couldn't imagine how empty their life must have been before meeting someone that loved them.

It wasn't a lifelong commitment, Arthur reasoned with himself. Love didn't equal forever.

When Merlin's lease was up the following October, he moved in with ARthur. They both knew it was going to happen eventually, that they had been leading up to it for a while now. It had been over a year now, and they were still going stronger than ever.

Much to Gwen's delight, of course.

"Just because I'm moving in with him doesn't mean I'm going to marry him or anything," Arthur refrained from an eye roll as Gwen squealed from her seat next to him as they ate ramen noodles straight out of the container at her kitchen table.

"No, but it's a step," she shook his shoulder excitedly, and Arthur sighed in the general direction of his childhood best friend. "You two are going to be deliriously happy together."

"Lovely," Arthur scoffed at the notion, hoping he wasn't letting on just how close to the truth her statement really was. "I think you're more worked up about this than either Merlin or I am."

"Well, the two of you are emotionally stunted robots," Gwen said. "I'm moving in with Leon next month, and the two of us didn't have to dance around each other _at all_ about the idea. We just decided on it like normal, mature adults."

Arthur winced at the reminder that he had held off asking Merlin until the last possible second, to the point where Merlin was actually looking online and seeing if there were any nicer flats in the area.

"It's not like it's going to last!" He said, but his claims were futile.

"It's not like it's going to last," Arthur couldn't count how many times he said uttered that statement in the last two years, but apparently _some_ people couldn't get the notion into their tiny little heads.

This time, he was talking to Morgana, with Merlin in the background. He and Merlin were getting a house now, one just off campus, because neither of them wanted to stay in the flat anymore, and they were finally, somehow, growing up. Just a bit.

"Of course not," Morgana replied seriously, looking like she was trying very hard not to let laughter escape her mouth. "You're not going to last. Obviously."

Arthur was facing her, so he didn't see Merlin, right behind, nodding and mouthing _"Yes we are."_

It was when Merlin had been gone for two weeks, in Wales, his mother sick with something serious, and Arthur was calling him at least two times a day to make sure he was alright, that he finally came to the realization that maybe, just maybe, they weren't just going to last a while, they were going to last for a long, long time.

It had been two years and five months, but somehow he had gotten to this point. He was in a serious relationship, one that had the potential to be his _only _real, true relationship.

And it scared him shitless.

"Merlin," Arthur was crafting his words very, very carefully. Merlin was back from his mother's now, she was much better and under professional care, and Arthur had spent nearly every second he could since his realization planning for this moment. "Do you ever…think about how…how long we'll be together?"

Merlin started, looking over at him in surprise, setting down the DVD that he had been about to slip into the player. "Yes. Quite a lot, actually. It's you who doesn't like bringing that up."

"Well – what do you think?" Arthur had never felt more vulnerable and on display, feelings up for the greatest degrees of ridicule, even though he knew that Merlin would never do that to him, at least not purposefully.

"I think that I love you," Merlin replied honestly and unwaveringly. "I think that I'd gladly spend the rest of my life with you. But if that's too much for me to say, just let me know."

"No, no!" Arthur reassured him quickly, warmed inexplicably by the words. "I feel – I think I feel the same way."

"You think?" Merlin raised an eyebrow and Arthur corrected himself.

"I know."

"Good," Merlin smiled to himself and Arthur's heart was beating louder than ever. "Good."

"Marry me."

It had been just over three years since that first day. The two of them had gone through many conversations in the past few months about their futures, about what they wanted after they graduated, about careers and children and everything in between, and Arthur was still absolutely floored by the question.

"What?"

"Marry me," Merlin repeated, biting his lip, just like he had on the first day when he had asked Arthur out for a drink. "Are you waiting for me to say please? You know that manners and I have never gotten along."

Only Merlin could make a joke right now. Arthur stared at him for a moment, at his bright eyes and his bitten lip and answered "Yes."

"So do you think it's going to last?" Merlin asked later that night as they were curled up in one another, breathing heavily and holding onto any form of skin they could, just reveling in this moment and every other moment they had spent together.

Arthur couldn't help but smile. "Probably."


End file.
